Hammering With Bananas, Or How to Build a Freelance Career In Bad Conditions

Have you ever hammered nails into a board with a banana?

Me neither. But yesterday, a Minnesota news station demonstrated that cold weather has certain unlikely advantages. Apparently, when the mercury drops to -13 or below, a banana will freeze so solid that you can use it to hammer nails into a board.

By now, you’re probably thinking—what on earth does this have to do with freelance writing?

Well, sometimes climate changes bring unexpected advantages—whether the changes are weather-related or economic. All the rules change when the temperature hits subzero temperatures—even bubbles freeze. And in an economic downturn, all the rules change too. Sometimes good clients turn into non-paying bad clients. And sometimes those publications that were keeping your bank account healthy are now going belly up.

So sometimes you have to make lemonade out of lemons and turn bananas into hammers. Today, I’m going to talk about how you can transform the economic slowdown into a tool that will help your freelance business survive—and even thrive—regardless how low the stock market goes or how many of your target publications start folding.

How? It all starts with a simple shift in attitude.

Here are some things that have helped me shift my thinking and turn bananas into hammers:

1) Watch your diet. I’m not talking about what you’re eating every day. I’m talking about the steady diet of bad news that you consume on a daily basis. It’s important to stay on top of what’s happening in the world, but there’s also a danger when you start focusing on how bleak the economy looks all the time. I’ve said it here before, but I think there’s a real danger in focusing on the negative. I’m a firm believer in the idea that you tend to get more of what you focus on, so make sure you’re focusing on the right things and thinking the right thoughts. My suggestion? Consume that news in moderation, but focus on what you do have control over: your attitude and what’s in front of you. And hopefully what’s in front of you is work.

2) Count your freelance blessings. A few weeks ago, I was watching the nightly news and realized that there was no good news. For an hour, I sat there and listened to stories about how much the stock market had fallen, how many jobs had been lost, all the companies going under, and it went on and on. I had been in a good mood before watching the news, but by the end of that hour, I felt like crawling into a fetal position and calling it an early night. I didn’t, of course. Because when I started thinking about it, the news was not bleak for me personally. I had three stories due, a book project, and a bunch of other assignments on my plate. In fact, I was so busy that I had to turn down work that week. No slowdown here! So my point is this: don’t take the bad news headlines and turn them into your own bad news story. I’m not suggesting that you turn into a Pollyanna. But if you focus on everything that’s going wrong, you’ll get depressed, get a what’s-the-use attitude, and pretty soon you’ll be so down in the dumps and low on energy that you won’t feel like marketing or looking for new assignments. In other words, don’t create your own economic recession. If you want your business to stay afloat—particularly these days—you have to make cultivating a positive attitude part of your overall strategy and a daily discipline. I’ll tell you what works for me: a daily gratitude list. At the end of the day (or whenever you need to) take some time out and jot down all the positive things that are happening in your freelance life today. Pat yourself on the back for your efforts, and look for the silver linings in everything. Because the people delivering the news aren’t going to highlight the good news for you. And they’re not living your freelance life anyway. So what do they know?

3) Regroup. The business model that was working for you a year ago, may be headed for trouble today. I’m probably sounding like a broken record here, but if your business model includes a lot of magazine and newspaper work right now, it’s time to revisit your strategy and reduce the percentage of work that you’re relying on from those sectors. The reality is, what worked yesterday, won’t necessarily work today. You have to keep shifting with the times and the market or you will go out of business. If you’re experiencing a slow period, it’s a perfect time to step up your marketing efforts. But it’s also an excellent time to take a step back and evaluate how you’re conducting your business. Look at the percentages—where is the bulk of your income coming from? Do these need to be adjusted? And how are you going to adjust them—what are the specific daily steps you need to take to adjust these percentages?

4. Cultivate your inner entrepreneur. Economic downturns aren’t all bad news for business. They can also spell opportunity to the business owners with the right mindset. Because as I mentioned earlier, when the climate changes, so do the rules. What does this mean for you? Well, it could mean that there might be more corporate work available because companies have had to downsize budgets and personnel—but they still need all that work done. And in most cases, hiring a freelancer is more economical because companies don’t pay us benefits and big salaries. We’re a cheaper option than a full-time employee. Recent stories, in fact, have highlighted this encouraging trend. In some cases, it might also mean that you have a better chance of getting your foot in the door for some freelance assignments. Businesses are looking to cut costs wherever they can right now, and if they’ve typically used one vendor for certain types of projects, they might be more open-minded when someone like you walks in the door with quality service at a lower price. Remember, too, that downturns have spawned some very successful companies—Hewlett-Packard, CNN, GE, Microsoft, and FedEx. Obviously, we own smaller businesses than the ones I’ve mentioned here. But my point is, there is always opportunity for business growth no matter what the conditions. You just have to look in different places and maybe a little harder. You have to cultivate that inner entrepreneur and the idea that the economic downturn is like training for a marathon. All the things you’re doing now to keep your business afloat in these tough economic times are probably smart practices to continue once conditions improve. For example, if you’re marketing more right now—continue that. Are you working hard to diversify your client base? Continue that too. If you continue with those practices, your business will be in a great position to ride the wave of recovery when it comes—and it will. And on the other side, you’ll have a much more successful business. Maybe even a six-figure income business. You just never know.

5) Follow your curiosity. One of the greatest things about this business is that it give you the opportunity to learn new things and follow your interests. Interested in learning more about the stock market? Pitch a story and ask all those questions you’ve always wanted to know but were afraid to ask your broker. Want to know how to pinch pennies and make your own household cleaners? Find the experts and write a story! Want to establish establish yourself as an expert in HR? Take some classes and get certified. Follow your interests! I guarantee that you will reap some nice rewards. Maybe not right away. But you will. And if you’re experiencing a slow work period, what a great opportunity to take that class you’ve been meaning to take for the past several years. As freelancers, everything we do qualifies for a story idea. So even if you’re thinking: I can’t take that scuba diving class because it’s just not practical or [insert whatever excuse you continue to tell yourself] think again. If you do take that scuba diving class, you might be able to write an essay about your experience, pitch a story about scuba diving, and land some travel writing assignments based on some exotic locales and dives you take when you visit them.

So what about you? How have you turned bananas into hammers lately? Drop me a line and tell me all about it!

-Jenny

Photo credit: Jason Gulledge (Flickr)